Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The number of shares authorized to be repurchased by an entity's Board of Directors under a stock repurchase plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Total cost of shares repurchased divided by the total number of shares repurchased.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6405813&loc=d3e23239-112655

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- Definition

Number of shares of common and preferred stock retired from treasury during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(29))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21463-112644

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Shareholders of Crawford & Company per Common Share (Narrative) (Details) - $ / shares	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Aug. 31, 2014
Common Class A
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock
Shares repurchased (shares)	0	500,000	0	517,700
Average cost (usd per share)		$ 6.62		$ 6.66
Common Class B
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock
Shares repurchased (shares)	0	0	0	0
Repurchase Authorization 2014 \| Common Stock
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased (shares)					2,000,000